:: Stop any sale of a long leasehold interest
of the Palace that's not for charitable purposes. The 1900 Alexandra Park
and Palace Act provided that both Palace and park be held on trust "for
the free use and recreation of the public for ever"

:: Safeguard the studios and the mast which pioneered
the world's first high-definition television broadcasts and preserve
the outline of the original studios A and B. Preserve and maintain
the Palace's Victorian theatre and famous Willis organ. Protect
public access to all of these and promote them as visitor attractions.

:: Reconstitute AP's trustees back to representatives
of the whole of London and of the nation, capable of and interested
in maintaining the Palace and Park for public use under its trusts
(e.g. north London boroughs, The GLA, English Heritage, BBC, The
Arts Council; individuals who have experience in community, heritage
and educational areas.

The Palace is a unique national public asset and
should be cherished as such.

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This Just In

2,393 signed petition
to the PM to prevent any sale of AP

The Save Ally Pally online petition
attracted 2,393 signatures by its closing date on
February 27. Although the High Court blocked a proposed
sale to a developer, Firoka Ltd., the overall trustee,
the London Borough of Haringey, has still not publicly
or finally abandoned its policy of flogging Ally
Pally entire. SAP thanks all those who signed. We
now await a response from the Prime Minister's office...

The petition wording:We the undersigned petition the
Prime Minister to instruct Haringey Council not
to sell Alexandra Palace to a property developer.
Save Ally Pally!

Transcript
of the judgment | Last
updated 31.10.07
Transcript of the judgment of the judicial review
held before the high court on the 5th of October
2007, is available from here.
Read
the full High Court of Justice judgment pdf
237kb

The High Court
has blocked the disposal of Alexandra Palace on a 125-year lease to a developer
| 5.10.07

The
reason for the challenge

The Court agreed
with Claimant Jacob O’Callaghan on behalf of SaveAllyPally.com campaign, represented by David Wolfe of Matrix, that the decision by the Commission
to authorize the sale by Haringey was unfair. The Palace is governed by a
Parliamentary statute, and a Minister had promised MPs that prior to the decision
objectors would be fully consulted. This "consultation" was "fatally
flawed" because the Commission never published the proposed lease and
project agreement referred to with their draft Order, or any details, so that
no-one could make a meaningful response about exactly what was proposed.

What parts of the park and palace would be leased and what parts
maintained as an public space available for the free use and recreation
of the public? How would the maintenance of the park be financed,
once the trust lost the asset of the palace, that has financed
the park maintenance so far? What assurances if any were given
to preserve the heritage and historic elements of the Palace,
such as the first TV studios and broadcasting mast?

The hearing

The proceedings were
an application to the administrative court for a “judicial review”
of the Charity commission decision/Order. Read more here

Senior AP Trustees write to the Charity Commissioners

1 June 2007
David Unwin
Senior Legal Commissioner
Charity Commission

Dear Mr Unwin
VERY URGENT AND IMPORTANT – ALEXANDRA PALACE

As you may be aware, all councillors, as charity trustees of Alexandra
Park and Palace, have received letters alleging deficiencies in
the proposed 125 year lease to Firoka of Alexandra Palace, and
in the processes which have, over the years, led to it.

We write to express our concern that these issues should be resolved
prior to the completion of the sale, and in particular seek clarity
over:

1. the disproportionate area of the Palace given over to commercial
activity by the proposed lease;

2. the nature of the activities that may be permitted;

3. the financial statements to the charity commission on the trustees'
behalf made to justify the lease.

In view of the uncertainty and the length of the proposed contract,
we request that the Charity Commission undertake an urgent investigation
to ensure that the above and other serious concerns which have
been expressed about the nature of the proposed contract are properly
examined before any irrevocable action is taken.

Yours sincerely

Signed by Neil Williams for and on behalf
of

Cllr Neil Williams
(LB Haringey), Trustee

Cllr Richard Wilson
(LB Haringey), Trustee

Cllr Wayne Hoban
(LB Haringey), Trustee

What's going on at
Ally Pally?

What's going on at Ally
Pally?

Alexandra Palace in Muswell Hill, designed by the Victorians
as the People's Palace for educational recreation, music, sport and entertainment,
a landmark north London rival to the Crystal Palace, and in 1936 birthplace
of television, has lasted 130 years and survived two fires. And, in 1900,
it literally became the People's Palace because by Act of Parliament it was
given to the people of London, with its Park, in trust for all time.

That was threatened a few
years ago by a proposal by officials of
Haringey council, the current trustee,
and the Palace's then managers to dispose of
the whole building to a commercial developer,
Firoka Ltd. Lock, stock and barrel.

High Court action blocks
sale

So five years ago Jacob
O'Callaghan of the Save Ally Pally campaign
went to the High Court to ask that the
decision by the charity commission to
permit the sale be overturned, on the
grounds that details of the sale had been
kept secret - when Parliament had been
promised that any sale would not go ahead
before full consultation . The court agreed
and quashed the decision.

TV studio A at Alexandra Palace, set-
up for Cafe Continental

Popperfoto

New management, new future

Five years later the picture
is very different.

Firstly, the Trustees declared
they were abandoning their attempts to
sell the Palace. They retook control over
the Palace and its trading company.

They began replacing the
officials who had masterminded the attempts
to flog it off. In particular the General
Manager, Keith Holder, was shown the door.
The trust's former solicitor was also
"let go". Now the Palace is
run by a manager, Duncan Wilson, who (unlike
all the previous bosses) has extensive
experience of running historic buildings.

Developing the potential inside.

Heritage Lottery bid

Besides its exhibition spaces,
the palace still houses two important
historic areas.

Firstly, a large Victorian
theatre, complete with working original
stage machinery.

Secondly, a space of international
historic importancce - the two BBC television
studios which in 1936 were the scene of
the birthplace of television - being the
world's first regular high-definition
public television service.

The years of uncertainty
and neglect have taken their toll on these
spaces - and they probably would have
been lost forever had the Firoka sale
not been overturned. But they have survived,
and now the Heritage Lottery fund is being
asked to help provide funds to re-open
them so that the public - which owns them
- can once again visit them.

Save Ally Pally welcomes
and fully endorses this bid, and urges
all our supporters to as well!

So our campaign is seeing
many of its aims finally on their way
to being realized. And instead of having
to battle with the trustees to save the
Palace, now we can work with the new management
to do so.

We will update this site
in the next few weeks, but retain much
of the information to show how close the
Palace came to being lost, how this was
averted - and how and why it must never
happen again.